This invention relates to the tracking of objects, and more particularly to a system for detecting and identifying objects. The system determines attributes of the objects such as size, color and location, classifies the objects according to their attributes, and records the attributes to a database. Subsequently a user can request the system to search the database, and retrieve information about the object and its attributes.
Even the most organized person occasionally misplaces something. A disorganized person may be faced daily with the task of locating his keys and wallet. A four year old child may borrow some of his mother""s jewelry for show-and-tell. And finding that obscure and rarely seen widget might require an organized search from attic to basement.
A variety of systems have been developed to assist people in identifying, monitoring, tracking and/or locating objects in the home and office. Fairly common examples are key holders that respond to a clap of one""s hands by emitting an audible signal, and portable telephones with a handset unit that rings when paged from the base unit. The prior art also offers some more elaborate computer-implemented techniques for tracking and managing items.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,160 describes a food tracking storage system. A base unit is mounted on or near a food storage location such as a refrigerator. When a food item is placed into the storage location, its name and storage lifetime are recorded on the base unit. Thereafter, the base unit provides signals indicating whether the food item has been stored beyond its useful lifetime.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,137 describes a system using radio frequency tags (RF tags) for identifying articles to which the tags are attached. A detection zone is radiated by a transmitter. Each tag contains a plurality of passive circuits that resonate at particular frequencies. When the tags are radiated, the system determines the resonant frequencies of each of the resonant circuits to uniquely identify the article to which the tag is attached.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,221 describes a system for tracking files located in file folders. Each file folder is equipped with a device that communicates with a processor via a bus. The file tracking system actively maintains and updates a database that includes file location.
One of the problems with these particular prior art systems is that some special device must be attached on or near each item that the systems are required to track. Attaching devices may be inconvenient in the sense that some manual intervention is required, or impractical where the item could not reasonably accommodate such an attachment.
In circumstances when the specific identity of an object is not important, or where the detection of motion in a confined area is sufficient to identify an object in that area, a system including one or more motion detectors may be employed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,035 describes a motion detecting system that alerts a user of motion being detected in various areas, and further indicates in which area the motion is being detected.
Where a system is responsible for tracking an item, the system must also provide a means for an interested user to obtain information about the item. In a case where many items are being tracked, such as in an inventory control system, information regarding the items is often organized and stored in a database. Sometimes the database can be easily searched, for instance, when the user knows the part number of an item of interest. In other cases a user may not have a precise identification of an item, or the user may wish to identify the item in terms of natural language, e.g. xe2x80x9cWhere are my eyeglasses?xe2x80x9d
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a search engine that allows a user to query a database using terms of natural language. Search engines of this type are commonly found on the Internet, and are employed to search databases of enormous size. The user presents a query including keywords that describe the item of interest. For example, a user considering a purchase of a car may query, xe2x80x9cFind information about cars.xe2x80x9d In step 10, the keyword xe2x80x9ccarxe2x80x9d would be parsed from the query. In step 12, an associator finds synonyms for the keyword. In this example, synonyms such as xe2x80x9cautomobile, and passenger vehiclexe2x80x9d may be found. In step 14, the synonyms are classified to determine related parameters. Here, the query may be classified into categories such as xe2x80x9cmake, model, color, manufacturers, dealers, repairs, and parts.xe2x80x9d In step 16, the database is searched and an index is prepared of sites that may contain relevant information. Then, in step 18, the relevant information is retrieved from those sites.
Traditionally, keyboards have been used to enter descriptive data into databases, and to prepare queries for search engines. However, other technologies have been employed to enhance the user interfaces. For example, optical character recognition (OCR) and automatic handwriting recognition (AHR) are techniques whereby text can be recognized from documents, books or written notes. An automatic speech recognition (ASR) system accepts an input of spoken words and converts it into a text stream or some other code, based on the sound of the words. ASR systems are usually trained to recognize words by analyzing and profiling the voice of a speaker. Some systems can thereafter identify a voice as belonging to a particular individual. A semantic system is an extension of ASR, wherein spoken words are not merely recognized for their sounds, but the content and meaning of the spoken words is interpreted. That is, where ASR may recognize individual words, a semantic system is directed toward the interpretation of phrases and sentences.
A dialog system is a computer-implemented system for providing an interactive dialog between a person and a computer. The system interprets statements and questions presented by the person, and produces meaningful responses or follow-up questions. Such a system is described by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/78,807 for a Sleep Prevention Dialog Based Car System.
Systems have also been developed for acquiring images and interpreting movement. Cameras for acquiring images and converting the images to a digital format for use by a computer are well known in the art. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/183,482 for A System and Method for Digital Information Exchange improves upon a standard digital camera by including an embedded chip for Internet connectivity.
An object identifying/tracking system studies images to identify objects within the images and thereafter tracks the movement of the objects. Techniques for identifying and tracking objects are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,697 for a Video Camera Capable of Automatic Target Tracking, and xe2x80x9cReal-Time Lip Tracking for Audio-Visual Speech Recognition Applicationsxe2x80x9d, Proceedings of European Conference of Computer Vision, published by Cambridge UK (1966).
A gesture recognition system accepts input from a user based on the user""s movements, such as hand gestures. That is, the user communicates with the system in a manner similar to a sign language. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/79,754 for Apparatus and Methods for User Recognition Employing Behavioral Passwords describes a gesture recognition system.
A computer""s ability to recognize specific sounds and objects has led to the development of systems that can recognize a specific user based on the user""s voice and/or face. The following references describe techniques of user recognition. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/788,471 for Text-Independent Speaker Recognition For Command Disambiguity And Continuous Access Control. Sobotka, xe2x80x9cFully Automatic Approach To Facial Feature Detection And Trackingxe2x80x9d, pp. 77-84, Springer (1997).
Data in text format can be indexed, archived and searched by using keywords that are typically included in the data itself. For example, a search for the word xe2x80x9ceyeglassesxe2x80x9d is performed by searching for the string of text xe2x80x9ceyeglassesxe2x80x9d. However, systems dealing with the storage and retrieval of graphic or audio data are confronted with challenges not found when managing textual databases. A search for an image of a pair of eyeglasses cannot be performed by searching for the string of text xe2x80x9ceyeglassesxe2x80x9d, because the image doesn""t contain a string of text. Systems for searching graphic databases work on the principal of identifying shapes of objects within images in the databases. Systems for searching audio databases identify specific audio components such as spectral density or voice prints. The following references describe several methods for indexing, archiving and searching graphic and audio databases. U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,848 for Object Recognition Apparatus and Method. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/63,805 for Random Visual Patterns Used to Obtain Secured Access. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/108,544 for an Audio/Video Archive System and Method for Automatic Indexing and Searching. J. Turek et al., xe2x80x9cSearch and Retrieval in Large Image Archivesxe2x80x9d, RC-20214, IBM, (Oct. 2, 1995).
Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an object tracking system and method that does not require any special devices to be attached to objects that are being tracked, but instead, monitors the objects with cameras and other sensors.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an object tracking system and method that utilizes object identifying technology to analyze pictorial images of objects and to automatically track the objects.
A third object of the present invention is to provide an object tracking system and method that utilizes user interface technologies including, automatic handwriting recognition, automatic speech recognition, gesture recognition, semantic processing and interactive dialog processing.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an object tracking system and method that utilizes search/retrieval technologies for classifying, indexing, archiving various attributes of objects registered with the system, wherein the data representing the attributes can be in the form of text, audio, or pictorial images.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide an object tracking system and method that utilizes cameras and sensors that include computer network and Internet connectivity.
A system and method for automatically tracking objects, includes a computer processor and memory, cameras, other sensors and a user interface. A user registers an object with the system by presenting the object to a camera, which produces an image of the object, and describing the object through a user interface. Based on an analysis of the image and the description provided by the user, an object identifier/tracker determines attributes of the object, classifies the object according to the attributes, and indexes and stores the image in a database. The system will thereafter track the location of the object. Subsequently, the user can query the system to search the database to obtain information regarding the object.